Not Just An Asshole After All
by your-wings-of-freedom
Summary: Gavin Reed is terrible when it comes to his feelings. Especially for a certain colleague of his. So when she gets herself caught in a compromising situation, it scares the hell outa him and he doesn't handle it as best as he could have, especially when his chest tightens in...concern? Fear? Love? He's much less of an asshole when it comes to the Detective he's sweet on. Two Shot.


**Author Note: Just a quick one-shot between Gavin and my OC, Anri (pronounced un-ree). She's a fellow Detective like Gavin, and pretty much the only friend Gavin has because, well, he's Gavin. I've never written DBH before so apologies if it's… well… horrible.**

**Trigger warnings: Mentions of past traumatic child/sexual abuse.  
**

Turning the corner, Gavin's heart beat a second faster at the sight of his partner being caught as a hostage. "Let her go!"  
Grey eyes shifted momentarily from the asshole they had been chasing down to glance at Anri. She looked _scared?_ Where was her gun? Fuck it, it didn't matter at this point. Eyes snapped back to the criminal, lips pulled back into a snarl, "I said, let her go asshole!" each word was bitten out between clenched teeth. Gavin appears angry in general, but this – messing with one of his own like this? Gavin may be an asshole, but he's not a complete asshole despite what others think – you do not want to mess with him when it comes to his loyalty to his partners.

Gun aimed steadily with intention to kill on the spot at the criminal they were supposed to be apprehending. Unfortunately, it was such a precarious situation that, even with Gavin's excellent shooting, there was still a chance he could take down Anri.

How the hell did she get into this situation? Gavin will never admit it, but she's just as good as him – if not, better, since he sometimes purposefully looks to rough the criminals up a bit before apprehending them. Call it an outlet, a hobby, whatever.  
Why the hell wasn't she fighting against him? Granted she's got the end of a gun pressed to her head, but still. There was no struggle from her. Hell, if it had been him, he would've kicked his way outta there. So … what gives? He would've assumed she was calm had it not been for that frightened look on her face. The type of look that he didn't ever want to see her wear. Dare he admit it actually _scared _him to see her so scared?

Fuck it! "I won't ask again! Let. Her. Go!" Gavin spat out, pointing his gun slightly forward with the silent message that he wasn't fucking around with this.

"Why? So this little bitch can put me in jail?" a quiet little whimper fell from Anri's lips as she felt the end of the gun being jabbed harder against her head. The sound was almost sickening to Gavin's ears.  
"You're already going to jail you fucking moron. Killing a cop will give you a life sentence if you're not already getting one for being a fucking rock spider."  
Gavin wasn't exactly the best at negotiation terms, which is currently disastrous since his partner's life is currently in the hands of a deranged asshole, and World's Number One asshole (Gavin) is not making the situation any easier by taunting the criminal.

"Just do it, Gavin…. _Please?_"  
Grey eyes shifted to the voice of his partner. Eyes narrowing in concern as he tried to quickly calculate the risks; it was a 50-50 chance.  
He shoots, takes down the guy and Anri lives or, he shoots, takes down the guy but not before the prick takes Anri down too.  
He's not even going to overanalyze that tiny little plea he heard from her. He can't go into that now.  
"Fuck!" the whispered curse came from under his breath as he made that call.

Anri squeezed her eyes shut as the harsh sound of the gun firing echoed in her ears. Her heart skipping a beat for a moment, thinking she had died. She knew the risks of asking Gavin to shoot the criminal who had her hostage. But if they didn't do something now, it would only provoke the criminal further and Anri would much rather take the chance.

She felt the pressure of the gun leave the side of her head and the body drop away from her, almost bringing her down with him if she didn't have her feet planted. Quickened footsteps took her away from the fallen criminal and her body bumping into something solid. She felt a hand touch her shoulder for no longer than a second, just a very quick action to steady herself, before the warmth of that hand dropped away.

Grey orbs dropped from Anri's form that had backed into him and shifted to the criminal before quickly shifting back to Anri's hip holster. "You had your gun on you the entire time!? Why the fuck didn't you use it!? What the fuck is wrong with you!? Do you have a death wish or something!? You could've been fucking killed!"  
Anger spilled out through Gavin's lips as he placed his own gun back in his own holster. Except it wasn't anger. It was fear. He was so close to losing her. And that thought, alone, scared the fuck out of him.

Slightly frightened blue orbs, now edged with anger, met angry grey ones of her partner. Though there was something else threatening to close in around those orbs… hurt? The fact that he didn't stop and think _why_ she couldn't, or didn't, use it? He just assumed she was another incompetent officer because of her gender?  
"What do you care, Gavin?" it was more of a rhetorical question as she walked straight past him, leaving him to simmer away in his jaw clenching anger. That's just it though, he _does_ care. He's just too fucking stubborn to admit it.  
"Fuck!" spat the curse before he turned and left in the same direction of his partner.

Fueled by god knows what; probably just the need to get some fresh air, Anri made a dash to get outside, only for Gavin's voice to be following behind her.  
"What the hell happened out there?"  
"Why do you care?" the question was repeated.  
"Because you're my partner and I got paperwork to fill out!"  
Grabbing her arm, Gavin turned her around to meet him face to face, "You owe me an explanation."  
Anger flashed in her generally calm blue hues, "I don't owe you shit, Reed."  
Using his last name. Ouch. She's never dropped formalities before.  
"I saved your life. I think the least you can do is owe me a goddamn explanation why the hell my partner, who was perfectly armed, managed to get herself into a hostage situation."  
"You can read it in the report I write."  
"Incompetent."  
"What?"  
"That's what they'll get from your report. They'll pull you off the field. Question your skill…"  
"I…"  
"Tell me the what the fuck happened back there and I'll make some bullshit story up for the reports – which, lemme point out to you, means I'm putting my ass on the line for you… or you can kiss our crummy dates goodbye."  
By 'crummy dates' he was referring to their cases they solved together – which often included late night pizza orders to the office, arguing over who's turn it was to buy the coffee because they needed a break from the office…

He watched as the fight left her features, left her body almost. The squared pose of her shoulders drooped slightly and a mix of exhaustion and fear flashed in blue hues that had turned to a stormy shade of blue. "I froze." she offered quietly.  
"Froze? You never freeze."  
Inhaling sharply, she tried starting again, "I…" tongue darting out to quickly wet her lips, blue eyes glanced upwards, willing the familiar sting of salty tears threatening to appear at the corner of her eyes before dropping her gaze to the ground; looking anywhere but at him.

"He looked a lot like my stepdad."

Gavin had to lean in slightly to catch the whispered words. He would've brushed the comment off as a 'so what' kind of remark but it was the broken tone in which she whispered them that made his blood run cold.  
For a moment he couldn't say anything, almost too scared to even ask for confirmation. Just in this moment, all he could do was stare at this strong, beautiful woman that he had been sweet on, who was now reduced to tears and threatening to curl in on herself. This was a woman who had no problem kicking his ass, giving him shit right back…  
"Did he ever…?" He couldn't even finish his question because the crime, alone, was a heinous act in itself. It sickened him to even think about it. Sickened him further that he couldn't bring himself to even finish the damn question.

The small whimper that came from Anri was enough to tell him everything he needed to know. Fuck. It was fucked up. It was disgustingly fucked up. Fingers curled into a tight fist, threatening to punch the nearest object, however a few forced deep breaths were enough to calm that bubbling anger down. Anri didn't need to be dealing with angered outburst for a second time that evening.

"Fuck." Came the angered whispered as he grabbed her elbow and pulled her down the sideway, away from any prying eyes of other officers that were beginning to arrive at the scene. At least it offered her some privacy. She was already feeling vulnerable as it is with opening to Gavin like that.

Gavin was at a loss of what to do. He hasn't seen Anri cry before – Christ, he hasn't seen her upset in general before. A few angered outbursts here or there… but not distraught like this. He rocked on the balls of his feet, back and forth, back and forth… hesitant on what to say next, on what to do next.  
Part of him wanted to find the fucker just so he could physically pummel him to death, the other part wanted to turn from Anri and puke his guts up.  
Neither of which happened as he stepped forward towards his partner, lifted an arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, roughly pulling her into a hug.

He didn't say a word. What the hell was he supposed to say? Sorry that it happened to her? She'd only see him as taking pity on her. And what good is sorry when the damage has already been done? Fuck. He had no idea she went through this. He had no fucking clue. How the hell was he supposed to know!?  
"My job is to protect people – and I couldn't even do that!" the muffled complaint came from the strawberry-blonde head that was buried in his chest.  
"You found the kids and we took the fucker down. You did your job. Don't think twice about it. Just…" his sentence trailing off, deciding not to state his fear.  
_Just don't fuckin' scare me like that again, got it? _

The sound of Gavin's phone ringing interrupted the two, without removing his arm from Anri's form, keeping her against him, he reached in his pocket with his free hand and swiped the screen across to answer the call.

"What?! …. Yeah, I'll be right there, just getting patched up… Took a swipe at my arm." Casually lying through his teeth to his boss who was wondering where the hell Gavin and Anri were with the dead body inside the house and no Detectives around…

Disconnecting the phone call and shoving the phone back in the pocket of his jeans, he finally pulled his arm away from Anri but not before he shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped it around her frame.

"You're done for the night. Go home. I'll tell 'em some bullshit story. You know I'm charming like that." Gavin's voice softening ever so slightly around the edges as his hands came and rested on her shoulders, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Grey eyes searched her watery blue ones.

She hadn't been crying… a few tears slipped out but nothing too distressing apart from all the reminders she had pushed down for a good couple of decades. A quick small nod was given from her since she didn't trust her voice to speak in confident tones.

Gavin quietly walked her to an unmarked police car, telling the officer to take her home, but also giving a death glare that threatened to do harm if the officer dare question anything.

Grey eyes watched as the car pulled out from the curb and drove down the street. He couldn't deny the concern that felt like it was crushing against his chest but he didn't have time to process it when a voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Hey, where's she going!?"

Fuck. Nosy little shits these Police Officers, aren't they?  
"She's not feeling well. Don't need her puking all over the crime scene." Turning, he made his way back to the crime scene to explain what happened; coming up with a typical story of the criminal had the gun raised at an officer, it was a threatening and compromising situation, Gavin had a window of opportunity and he took it.

They bought it since they had no other reason to not believe him.

Detective Gavin Reed, DCPD's Number One Asshole lying through his teeth to spare the pride of another Detective. Who knew he wasn't such an asshole? 


End file.
